Whats the word on Matthews Bows?

[TazBub83]

Just wanted to hear what people think on Matthews Bows, interesed in purchasng one in the off-season

[Tim L]

Worth every penny you won't regret buying one

[Jeremy Donabauer]

I've shot most bows Mathews makes and also the Hoyt Havoc Tec I really preferred the Hoyt so I bought one. I am very impressed with speed and everything else. I know there is a ton of Mathews supporters but I will keep shooting my Hoyt until I find something better. my 2 cents

[frozen toes]

Mattews makes a great bow no doubt. But, they are not for everyone. I owned one and sold it. It was a good bow, but I did not get along with it very well. Best thing to do is shoot as many as you can at a dealer. That way you will find one that fits you and you are comfortable with. Brands do not mean everything, as almost every bow company makes a good bow. I sold my Mattews and bought a Diamond Machete. This bow was as fast and quiet as the Mattews but more forgiving. That is just my personal opinion.

[Fisher Dave]

Matthews are nice bows to shoot for me. I had the opportunity to shoot them on a few seperate occasions. Another bow that is worth attention is Bow Tech if you feel the need to fork out the cash for either.. they are the top of the line.

For me ... My Hoyt will kill a deer just as well .. for about half the price.

[neusbaum]

Yes, Mathews has a bow for everyone, but the cost may keep alot of folks away. Nobody makes a better bow, period, the end.

[Iceman77]

Every bow manufacturer makes a great bow and so does Mathews. Things to look at are customer service, dealer quality that sells you the bow, how the bow fits you... etc. I used to shoot archery professionally and am getting back into it again this year. I am a tall person with a long draw length and I can not shoot a Mathews bow for extreme accuracy like a can with other bow companies. Hoyt and Martin I feel are the two best bow companies when looking at customer service, quality, and accuracy. As I said before I have a long draw length and am taller so for me to hold steadier and feel more comfortable I need a longer axle to axle bow to achieve better performance. This also decreases the apex angle of the string and less overall distortion in the string system. I have had many friends use there Mathews bows for indoor target shooting and eventually they switched bow companies and there scores improved just because they felt more comfortable shooting many arrows with a different bow. I have also seen many customer service issues with Mathews, more so than other bow manufacturers, mostly with replacing bad limbs. In the end it really comes down to what you will be using the bow for and how comfortable you are shooting it. Mathews is more after the hunting market(rightfully so since that is by far the biggest market in archery) and designs there bows with that in mind.

[Zarkohl]

Icemann 77. not to get off the topic, but I was intrigued by your response. I am 6'3" and have a 31" inch draw length (I rently had it measured) I have been shooting a PSE beast for about three years, (It is my first bow). I shoot weekly during the season and a few 3D courses thoughout the year. It seems like my accuracy just isn't there. While I do OK, my buddies always seem to out shoot me, even though shoot more often than they do. recently, I have noticed a "spot" that I reach, when I am at full draw, where it feels like there is a little hitch and/or roll. It is right at the point of full draw, just before I want release the arrow. I think the PSE Beast only goes up to a 30" draw. I do, however, use a release. I am thinking that maybe this bow is actually to short for me? In you post you indicted that because you a a tall person that you get better better accuracy and perfomance with a longer axle to axle bow. Given you knowledge of archery, perhaps you could provide me and/or us withsome in sight in to bow selection and what to look for. I had always heard that you should try and find the most compact bow, as it would be easy to handle in the brush. Your thoughts, Thanks, Jim.

ength d weekly and have not been getting that has a 30 inch draw lenght

[Iceman77]

There are many considerations to take into account when setting up your draw length that you need. The first thing to note is there is AMO draw length and true draw length. AMO draw length is 1.75" added to your true draw length. Your true draw length is the measurement from your arrow rest hole(if more than one choose the one directly above the throat of the grip)and the apex of the string at full draw. A good measurement of getting your draw close(usually within +/-0.5") is the wingspan method. To do this place your back flat against a wall and stand nice and straight. Then stretch your arms out to your sides(comfortably so you don't overstretch) and have someone measure the distance between your outer fingertips. Take this measurement subtract 15 from it then divide by two. For example, my wingspan is 76" therefore (76-15)/2=30.5" AMO draw length. This makes my true draw length 30.5-1.75=28.75". As I stated before this will get you close to your actual draw length. My actual comfortable true draw length is 29.25". When your draw length is close and assuming you have GOOD form your sight should slowly float in a small circle. If your draw length is too short then your sight picture will stop and have fast jerks, which generally causes you to miss by a greater amount. Again this is assuming you have good form which is standing as a T-shape(Front view), release arm in line with the arrow when viewed from above, shoulders locked down and not up... and many others too numerous to list and probably more in depth than you care to know. If you can take some pictures of yourself at full draw I can outline a few things to help further on form. Other extremely important items to note are proper arrow spine. If your arrows are not spined properly and you don't have a good very repeatable form you will miss more often. You also want proper arrow flight out of the bow. You want the arrow to fly somewhere near straight when leaving the bow, this is where paper tuning helps. After all of the above another important thing to note for dual cam bows is something called "creep tuning" this tells you if your cams are in "dynamic" time. Basically you pull against the wall and shoot arrows at a horizontal line. Then shoot another group of arrows when you creep forward a little. If both groups hit the same spot then your cams are in time. If not you need to make some adjustments. If you want to know what cam to adjust let me know and I can help further. Too many people "static" time their bows by measuring the wheels when not drawn. If you don't draw the bow in exactly dead center then your cams will immediately be out of time. Even when you have someone else measure at draw it is still not accurate enough. This is where one cam bows are supposed to be superior, unfortunately they still to need to be in "tune" i.e. timing marks within a certain range. For myself and why I like to have longer axle to axle lengths is for comfort while shooting. If you are not comfortable you WILL NOT shoot as well. I like my nose to barely touch the string and have the peep sight within a reasonable distance from my face. I then adjust the length of my release rope to get my arm in line with the arrow. With a smaller axle to axle bow I can't get my nose to touch the string without grossly overdrawing the bow even with a short rope on my release. The peep sight is also way too far away from my eye. Short axle to axle bows only have an advantage by carrying it through brush. Otherwise, for the most part with modestly longer draw lengths, short axle to axle bows will only teach the archer to have improper form. The key to archery is being comfortable and repeatable.

Again don't believe marketing hype on one cams, CPS, or cam and a halfs. This is to get the archer to spend more money. If you have good quality strings made of good material so they don't stretch and you creep tune then your dual cam bow will have no problems even your one cam bow will have issues with string creep, contrary to rumors and marketing hype. And no one cam, CPS, and cam and a halfs do not have level nock travel, this has been proven time and time again... is it important to have extremely level nock travel... not that I can tell or any other pro that shoots exceptional scores. Any bow on the market today will outshoot what the shooter could do any day of the week.

I'm sure there are questions on the above so let me know and I will answer appropriately. Hope this helps.

[BLACKJACK]

Iceman, what I found out last year when I was looking at new compound bows was that longer bows are hard to find, all the manufactureres are going shorter and shorter. At the time I was shooting fingers and I wanted to reduce the pinch, but I still ended up getting a new Golden Eagle that was about 6 inches shorter than my old Golden Eagle. Then when I got it home, I was having a hard time getting a consistent group, when I went back to the archery shop, they talked me into a release, which solved my problem.

[Iceman77]

Yep... Blackjack that is the case. Manufacturers who want to stay in business will produce what the consumer wants at that current time. Manufacturers are producing shorter axle to axle bows because that is what the hunters want(they are the largest consumer base in archery). Plus if they market correctly they can persuade the consumer into giving up there old bow to buy the latest and greatest. The solo cam bow concept was originally introduced by Martin quite a few years ago, but the marketing wasn't there to sell those bows so they dropped the idea. It wasn't until Matthews started marketing the idea exclusively that the idea sold itself.

Matthews does not make bows for everyone they only make bows for the greater percentage of the population, while other bow manufacturers will create bows for the entire spectrum of archers: hunting, indoor target, outdoor target, 3D, body size, shape...etc. This is the reason why I chose to shoot for the bow company I do now since it shoots best for me. I've shot Matthews bows and have given them a chance but for my body size and styles of shooting I do, they will not work as well for me as other companies products can. I too started out shooting fingers but the money wasn't there in the tournaments so now I shoot all the bells and whistles(scope, long stabilizer, release...etc.) since this is where the money is at. I really enjoyed shooting fingers and could shoot 42" axle to axle bows for many arrows but the consistency was not there. I had to reduce the amount of finger pinch and torque to increase accuracy which is much easier to do with longer ATA bows. The advice I give to any archer(beginner, intermediate, and advanced)is to go to many dealers and shoot what they have for the style you prefer to shoot. Find which one feels most comfortable to you. Make sure you give each bow company an equal chance and make your choice. Beware of dealers that try to force you into what they have in stock or their higher priced bows. The dealers that know what they are doing will discuss every bow equally and discuss the pros and cons of each.

Another important thing to mention is brace height and riser style. Longer brace heights ARE more accurate and forgiving. Riser styles will fit into the categories of reflexed, deflexed, and straight. Deflexed risers have the handle just in front of the limb pockets. Straight risers will have the handle in line with the limb pockets. Reflexed risers have the handle behind the limb pockets. Deflexed risers are the most stable since that is dynamically the most stable position. Reflexed risers are the least stable and most unforgiving since the point of hold wants to be in front of the limb pockets. The force at hold is transmitted through the strings into the cams through the limbs, then into the limb pockets, then the riser, and finally the handle. In a reflexed configuration the bow naturally wants to rotate about your hand position until it can have the handle at the furthest point of the bow. Fortunately the bow cables/cam setup force the movement from happening although it does add torque to the system. Reflexed risers will be faster than both straight and deflexed risers but are less accurate(assuming same axle to axle, cams, strings, etc.).

Hunters want bow speed, smaller size, and quiteness as the top categories. Reducing ATA will give you both the smaller size but will also improve the speed of the bow. Then reflexed riser designs and different cam options will give you even more speed. Unfortunately all of the above also give you a less accurate bow. Quiteness is an easy one to achieve if you properly setup your equipment.

[pikechaser]

Actually mathews makes a bow I believe the model name is conquest...but it is much longer bow than anything else they make and I have heard many good reports on it...I think thats wat most of mathews tourney shooters use.....I bought a LX this fall and love it...I did have an issue with split limbs, due to my nephew dry firing it,,but Mathews repaird it ..no charge..no questions asked...they were great about it..they are more money, but they are a very nice bow as well

[Jeremy Donabauer]

Can't believe this topic didn't get out of hand. It supports the fact that bowhunters are true sportsman and conservationists.

[Iceman77]

Pikechaser,
The ConquestIII is a considered a long bow for Matthews standards at 41" ATA. They also have the new Ovation this year and is somewhere between 40"-41". Unfortunately this is just too short for me to shoot comfortably and consistantly. Most tourney shooters that I know still shoot the ICON for a Matthews bow. A friend of mine is currently dealing with Matthews with a new bow that he bought. The dealer has looked at it and the riser was bent right out of the package. Matthews will not take care of the issue since they stated that, "we would not send out a bad bow." All manufacturers have similar stories but I have heard of many issues recently from their customer service department. It is still important for the archer to shoot the bow that is properly setup for them and can shoot comfortabley and be repeatable.

[axel grease]

I bought an Icon mid-season. Killed a Poper within 30 minutes of being in my stand. I only had shot the bow three days. If there is a quieter and smoother drawing bow than the Icon, I would like to shoot it.

Grill what you kill.

[axel grease]

I hadn't read the Iceman's post. You should buy the bow, any bow, from a dealer that has it's own service. A small dealer that has a range where you can shoot it with a variety of hardware. Make sure your happy before you buy.

If you want to come to Peoria,IL, I know of a shop like that. The service is golden!